Nell Greenfieldboycehttp://peoriapublicradio.org
enEditing The Climate Talkers: Punctuation's Effect On Earth's Fatehttp://peoriapublicradio.org/post/editing-climate-talkers-punctuations-effect-earths-fate
In Bonn, Germany, hundreds of people have <a href="http://unfccc.int/meetings/bonn_jun_2015/session/8857.php#Facilitator">gathered</a> to work on a draft version of a major United Nations agreement to control greenhouse gas emissions that are changing the Earth's climate.<p>And when I found out that climate change negotiations basically all boil down to writing and editing a document, I was intrigued.<p>After all, I've spent most of my life writing and being edited.Mon, 01 Jun 2015 07:34:00 +0000Nell Greenfieldboyce42029 at http://peoriapublicradio.orgEditing The Climate Talkers: Punctuation's Effect On Earth's FateHigher-Tech Fake Eggs Offer Better Clues To Wild-Bird Behaviorhttp://peoriapublicradio.org/post/higher-tech-fake-eggs-offer-better-clues-wild-bird-behavior
Since the 1960s, biologists have made fake eggs for some studies of bird behavior.Tue, 26 May 2015 20:26:00 +0000Nell Greenfieldboyce41765 at http://peoriapublicradio.orgHigher-Tech Fake Eggs Offer Better Clues To Wild-Bird BehaviorYou And Yeast Have More In Common Than You Might Thinkhttp://peoriapublicradio.org/post/you-and-yeast-have-more-common-you-might-think
Rip open a little package of baker's yeast from the supermarket, peer inside, and you'll see your distant cousin.<p>That's because we share a common ancestor with yeast, and a new study in the journal <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/">Science</a> suggest that we also share hundreds of genes that haven't really changed in a billion years.<p><a href="http://www.marcottelab.org/index.php/People">Edward Marcotte</a>, a biologist at the University of Texas at Austin, knew that humans and yeast have thousands of similar genes.Thu, 21 May 2015 18:10:00 +0000Nell Greenfieldboyce41523 at http://peoriapublicradio.orgYou And Yeast Have More In Common Than You Might ThinkTwo Guys In Paris Aim To Charm The World Into Climate Actionhttp://peoriapublicradio.org/post/two-guys-paris-aim-charm-world-climate-action
Here's a job that sounds perfect for either a superhero or a glutton for punishment: Get nearly 200 countries to finally agree to take serious action on climate change.<p>Two men have taken on this challenge.Mon, 11 May 2015 07:25:00 +0000Nell Greenfieldboyce40913 at http://peoriapublicradio.orgTwo Guys In Paris Aim To Charm The World Into Climate ActionMissing Link Microbes May Help Explain How Single Cells Became Ushttp://peoriapublicradio.org/post/missing-link-microbes-may-help-explain-how-single-cells-became-us
Scientists have discovered a group of microbes at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean that could provide new clues to how life went from being simple to complex.<p>There's good evidence that life appeared soon after our planet formed — some 4.5 billion years ago — but the Earth wasn't very hospitable. "The microbes that lived back then had to cope with completely different conditions," says <a href="http://www.icm.uu.se/forskning/molekylar-evolution/personal/thijs-ettema/">Thijs Ettema</a>, a biologist at Uppsala University in Sweden.Wed, 06 May 2015 21:16:00 +0000Nell Greenfieldboyce40716 at http://peoriapublicradio.orgMissing Link Microbes May Help Explain How Single Cells Became UsWhen Did Humans Start Shaping Earth's Fate? An Epoch Debatehttp://peoriapublicradio.org/post/when-did-humans-start-shaping-earths-fate-epoch-debate
Humans have had such a huge impact on the Earth that some geologists think the human era should be enshrined in the official timeline of our planet.<p>They want to give the age of humans a formal name, just as scientists use terms like the Jurassic or the Cretaceous to talk about the age of dinosaurs.<p>But some researchers think that formally establishing an "Anthropocene" — as many call it — as part of the geologic time scale would be a big mistake.<p>The debate is heating up as a working group is getting closer to making recommendations to the scientific organization that decides such thingMon, 06 Apr 2015 08:22:00 +0000Nell Greenfieldboyce39033 at http://peoriapublicradio.orgNASA To Study A Twin In Space And His Brother On Earthhttp://peoriapublicradio.org/post/nasa-study-twin-space-and-his-brother-earth
<strong>Updated at 4 p.m. ET</strong><p>A Russian rocket has carried a Russian cosmonaut and an American astronaut to the International Space Station, where they will live for a full year, twice as long as people usually stay.<p>No American has remained in space longer than 215 days. Only a few people have ever gone on space trips lasting a year or more — the longest was 437 days — and they're all Russian cosmonauts.Fri, 27 Mar 2015 08:43:00 +0000Nell Greenfieldboyce38559 at http://peoriapublicradio.orgNASA To Study A Twin In Space And His Brother On EarthScientists Discover A New Form Of Ice — It's Squarehttp://peoriapublicradio.org/post/scientists-discover-new-form-ice-its-square
<p>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFL_4riM1PA</p>Wed, 25 Mar 2015 18:01:00 +0000Nell Greenfieldboyce38474 at http://peoriapublicradio.orgScientists Discover A New Form Of Ice — It's SquareWhy Some Mushrooms Glow In The Darkhttp://peoriapublicradio.org/post/why-some-mushrooms-glow-dark
A team of scientists recently created some fake, glowing mushrooms and scattered them in a Brazilian forest in hopes of solving an ancient mystery: Why do some fungi emit light?<p>The question goes back all the way to Aristotle, who is the first person known to have wondered about this, according to <a href="http://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/dunlaploros/members/current.php">Jay Dunlap</a>, a geneticist and molecular biologist at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.Sat, 21 Mar 2015 11:11:00 +0000Nell Greenfieldboyce38264 at http://peoriapublicradio.orgWhy Some Mushrooms Glow In The DarkAre Humans Really Headed To Mars Anytime Soon?http://peoriapublicradio.org/post/are-humans-really-headed-mars-anytime-soon
With recent news headlines proclaiming that dozens of people have been selected as finalists for a Martian astronaut corps, it might seem like a trip to this alien world might finally be close at hand.<p>But let's have a little reality check. What are the chances that we really will see people on the Red Planet in the next couple of decades?<p>Most people just don't get how hard this would be, says <a href="http://www.marylynnedittmar.com/?page_id=724">Mary Lynne Dittmar</a>, an aerospace consultant in Washington, D.C.Tue, 17 Mar 2015 07:17:00 +0000Nell Greenfieldboyce38039 at http://peoriapublicradio.orgAre Humans Really Headed To Mars Anytime Soon?